PRESENTATION OUTLINE
THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE (1800-1860)
Description:
In terms of literature, the American Renaissance era was the period of time after the Revolutionary War where American authors introduced romanticism and transcendentalism to the country through their literary works.
Romanticism:
An attitude or intellectual orientation that characterized many works of literature, painting, music, architecture, criticism, and historiography in Western civilization over a period from the late 18th to the mid-19th century (Britanica 1).
Characteristics of Romantic Writing:
1. Focuses on individual growth, success or change instead of societal.
-Individual consciousness & Individual awareness
2. Reverence for the Natural World
3. Passion
-Physical
-Emotional
4. Interest in the mystic and supernatural
Transcendentalism: the idea that the world transcends of goes beyond what we sense (feel, see, etc...)
Concepts:
An important concept in transcendentalism is that knowledge is not from reasoning, logic, or the senses, but from intuition and imagination.
Characteristics of Transcendentalism in Writing:
1. Individualism
2. Knowledge through intuition
3. Encourages reform
4. Self-reliance
5. Simple living
Washington Irving (1783-1859)
Irving often juxtaposed European and American views. According to Irving, " Romanticism lay in its promise for the future ."One of his best known works of literature is "Rip Van Winkle" We see examples of romanticism in this story. "Every change of season, every change of weather, indeed, every hour of the day, produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of these mountains, and they are regarded by all the good wives, far and near as perfect barometers." This quote shows the reverence of the natural world or nature.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
**Fun Fact- he went to prison for a short period of time for not paying his taxes** His thoughts of transcendentalism began after reading "Nature" by Ralph Waldo Emerson. In his book "Walden", Thoreau wrote in detail about simple living ."Simplify, simplify. Instead of three meals a day, if it be necessary eat but one; instead of a hundred dishes, five; and reduce other things in proportion." This idea of simplicity is a key characteristic of transcendentalism.
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849): Known for dark, emotional romantic writing. While he did write many other types of literature but he was greatly involved in the Renaissance era. "The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?" -Edgar Allan Poe
Timeline of the American Renaissance Era:
-1783: Revolutionary War begins
-1820: Washington Irving publishes "The Sketch Book"
-1828: Noah Webster published his dictionary of the American Dictionary
-1839: Edgar Allan Poe published " The Fall of the House of Usher"
-1841: Ralph Waldo Emerson published "Self-Reliance"
-1850: Hawthorne publishes "The Scarlett Letter"
Timeline continued:
1852: Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes "Uncle Tom's Cabin"
-1854: Thoreau publishes "Walden"
-1855: Whitman publishes "Leaves of Grass"
-1861: Charles Dickens publishes "Great Expectations"
-1861: The Civil War Begins
